Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd cut its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,441 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,293 shares during the period. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in American Express were worth $1,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,979 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,894 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 40,554 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $9,390,000 after buying an additional 1,754 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 222,597 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $51,542,000 after acquiring an additional 14,347 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $105,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,481 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
American Express Price Performance
Shares of AXP stock traded up $5.51 on Tuesday, reaching $318.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,700,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,272,211. The company has a market capitalization of $224.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $184.06 and a 12-month high of $319.70. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $299.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.
American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
American Express Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.
Insider Buying and Selling at American Express
In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $278.09.
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About American Express
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Free Report)
American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.
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